Dear First Presbyterian Church Members and Friends, We are very excited to nominate Reverend Craig N. Goodrich as the next Senior Pastor/Head of Staff, for our wonderful church. Since our committee’s first meeting in August of 2013 we have reviewed almost 300 Personal Information Forms. It was a unanimous decision of the Pastor Nominating Committee (PNC) that God is calling Craig Goodrich to our church. We believe Craig’s ability to deliver a sermon that relates the Lord’s teaching to how we should live our lives is one of the reasons we were initially drawn to him. After meeting him, and his wife Andie, we witnessed that their love of life, family and church is strong and enthusiastic. They are a wonderful team! Craig has extensive experience in all administrative areas. His and Andie’s love of Christ and his dedication to ministry is rooted in a strong theological knowledge and love. We are very excited and encouraged as Craig will lead our church into the next chapter together.
We are guided by the Holy Spirit, as we turn to a bright future with Craig’s leadership, guidance and spiritual stability. We are very grateful for your faithful prayers and for God’s tangible guidance during these past years. It has been an honor and privilege for all of us to represent our church in this process. This experience has reaffirmed our hope and excitement for our congregation and for the PC (USA). We eagerly anticipate the vibrant future of our church and it’s ministry to the community. God’s Blessing, Libby Biehl Cris Crider Don Grandi Cal Pratt Jane Ruprecht Rex Storter Debbie Warren
Rev. Craig N. Goodrich, comes to us with a wealth of experience and energy. He has a creative and strategic mind, a warm heart and approachable personality, and a great love for God and for the church of Jesus Christ. Craig holds an undergraduate degree in English from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1977) where he was a Morehead Scholar; a juris doctor degree from Boston College Law School (1981) from which he graduated cum laude, and a masters of divinity with distinction from Columbia Theological Seminary (1994). From 1981 to 1991, Craig practiced law in Washington, DC. He was in private practice, primarily focusing on litigation. Among the firms with which he worked was the DC office of the Florida-based firm of Holland and Knight. During this time he also served Georgetown Presbyterian Church as a trustee and, subsequently, Vienna Presbyterian Church as a ruling elder. Sensing a call to pastoral ministry, in 1991 Craig and his wife Andie and their three young children moved to Atlanta so Craig could attend Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia. For the last twenty years, Rev. Goodrich has served two large PCUSA churches in Atlanta: the First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta, from 1994 to 2013, primarily as Associate Pastor for Administration/Executive Director and, since March of 2013, Trinity Presbyterian Church as Senior Associate Pastor. Craig is a gifted preacher and teacher and has extensive experience in all administrative areas including personnel management, stewardship and finance, property matters and strategic planning. He has initiated and led men’s ministries and, with Andie, has taught marriage classes and been part of a couples’ ministry. Rev. Goodrich is a trained Stephen Ministry leader and has served two terms on the board of the Presbyterian Homes of Georgia. He has twice led pilgrimages to Israel and, during a sabbatical funded by the Lilly Endowment, has traveled to Geneva and Scotland, a trip focused on our Reformed Heritage and Theology.
Craig has also served the larger church in many ways. He was a commissioner to the 220th General Assembly in Pittsburgh and, at the Presbytery level, has served as Chair of the Conflict Management Team and Moderator of the Permanent Judicial Commission. He has also served on an Investigative Committee and as a member of the Nominating Committee. Married for 37 years, Craig and Andie have three young adult children and two young grandchildren. Daughter Caitlin and her husband Wes Jones live in Atlanta. Son Peter and his wife Kelly and their two children, Louisa and August, live in Christchurch, Virginia. Daughter Lara and her husband Zack Ezor live in Boston. Recently Lara and Zack completed their five month hike of the entire Pacific Crest Trail, over 2650 miles from Mexico to Canada!
Craig describes Andie as “the best thing that ever happened to me,” and they take great joy in their marriage and family. Andie was a real estate agent for thirteen years but more recently she has focused on the ministry of hospitality and women’s ministries in their current church. One of Craig’s favorite phrases from a church’s mission statement which he authored describes the congregation as “Rooted in tradition, Open to the Spirit.” He also believes this describes himself and his approach to ministry. Other themes that have been important in his life and ministry include: “grace and gratitude” and “faith and courage.” And finally, Craig has a good sense of humor, an essential quality for “church work!”
I was born into a loving family, the second of three sons. I was baptized and confirmed in the Episcopal tradition. At the age of fifteen and through the youth ministry of a Presbyterian church, I came to an experiential knowledge of the love of God in Jesus Christ. Central to my faith is the belief in, and practice of, daily surrender of my will to Christ. As the hymn says, “Take my life and let it be, consecrated, Lord to Thee.” I believe and put my trust in the one triune God, three persons of one nature. I believe in the creator, covenant-maker, loving and compassionate Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. I believe in Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ and my Lord and Savior, who is fully human and fully divine, and who by his death and resurrection has redeemed and reconciled us, even in our brokenness, to God and to one another, and has given us the hope and assurance of life eternal. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the wind, fire and power of God, who is the Lord, giver and sustainer of life, and the active agent of regeneration in the world, the life of the Church and the lives of believers. I believe that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are, by the Holy Spirit, the unique and authoritative witness to Jesus Christ and God’s Word to the Church. I believe that God has called the Church into being and that Jesus Christ, the living Lord, is its head. I believe that all those called to leadership in the Church are to follow his example of servant leadership. I believe that the mark of the Christian is love and that marks of the Church are sound preaching and the right administration of the sacraments. I believe the Church is always being reformed according to the Word of God and the action of the Spirit. I believe that all we do and everything we are, begins and ends with the grace of God. I believe that Baptism is the sign and seal of God’s gracious covenant in Jesus Christ. In Baptism we receive God’s grace and respond in gratitude. Through the waters of Baptism, we are engrafted into Christ, die to our old self, and rise to newness of life. By Baptism we become members of the Church universal and begin the process of sanctification which continues our whole life long. I believe that in the Lord’s Supper we gather as a community of grace to celebrate and remember the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, to acknowledge that we belong to Christ and his body, to receive strength for the journey, and to anticipate the messianic banquet when Christ shall come again.
I believe that the Church is the people of God in mission; imperfect disciples who gather on the Lord’s Day to joyfully praise and worship God and to receive spiritual sustenance, then disperse to be engaged in ministry throughout the week as the priesthood of all believers in society, at work and at home. I believe that the Church exists to proclaim the gospel for the salvation of humankind, to be engaged in efforts of reconciliation among all peoples, to promote justice and social righteousness and to be a sign of God’s present and coming kingdom. And finally, I am so grateful to be a part of all this!
In the 1980’s David H.C. Read who served Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City wrote an autobiography entitled Grace Thus Far. I love that title and I like to believe it describes my life and my aspiration to live a life of faith and gratitude in response to God’s grace in Jesus Christ. I was raised in a loving family of three boys, the second son. We were baptized Episcopalian and unknowingly received God’s grace. For a while we attended worship, but at some point my parents gave up on getting three resistant boys to church. We considered that a victory. But it was a simple invitation to my older brother, George, to attend a youth group activity at Fourth Presbyterian in Bethesda, Maryland that changed all of our lives. He began going to youth group. I soon followed and at the age of 15 committed my life to Christ and knowingly experienced God’s surprising grace, the first of several conversions. Remarkably, all three brothers are now PCUSA pastors and my parents are Presbyterian elders. Grace again.
I attended the University of North Carolina, participated sporadically in Inter Varsity Christian Fellowship, but most importantly fell in love with Andie Evans. We married in 1978 and moved to Boston where I attended law school and we joined Newton Presbyterian Church. Returning to Washington in 1981, I practiced law, and became a trustee at Georgetown Presbyterian Church. Our three children (Caitlin, Peter and Lara) were born during this time. Subsequently, we moved to Vienna, Virginia and joined Vienna Presbyterian Church where I served as an elder. It was there that over time and with great excitement and trepidation I discerned a call to pastoral ministry, another conversion of sorts. Through the encouragement of Andie, family, friends, our pastor and Ben Johnson, a professor at Columbia Seminary, in 1991 we packed up our young family and moved to Decatur, Georgia where I attended Columbia. We thought we would be in Atlanta for three years and then move on. In the summer of 1992 by God’s grace I served as a student intern at First Presbyterian Atlanta and ended up staying there for 21 years, the last 16 years of which were as Associate Pastor for Administration/Executive Director. These were great years of ministry, of deepening spirituality and practice, of widening understanding of the inclusivity of God’s grace (another conversion), of teaching, increasing preaching, staff leadership, men’s ministry and more. In 2013, I answered a call to Trinity Presbyterian Church, a wonderful congregation in Atlanta where I serve as Senior Associate Pastor. Our children are now grown and we are grandparents to two (Louisa and August or “Gus”). These last years have been a formative time of increasing self-understanding and conviction that God’s surprising and compelling grace is at work again and that I am being called to a new chapter of service and adventure. ...Grace thus far
Formal Education: Columbia Theological Seminary (PCUSA), Decatur, Georgia Master of Divinity with distinction, Columbia Scholar (1994) Boston College Law School, Newton, Massachusetts Juris Doctor, cum laude (1981) University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina Bachelor of Arts in English, Morehead Scholar (1977) St. Albans School, Washington, D.C. (1973) Continuing Education: Stephen Ministry Leader Training (2014) Holy Land Pilgrimage, First Presbyterian trips to Israel, (2013, 2012) Executive Pastors Conference, Atlanta, GA (2010) Spiritual Immersion Weekend, Columbia Seminary (2010) Emerging Church Conference, Columbia Seminary (2010) Stewardship Workshops, Big Tent PCUSA gathering, Atlanta, GA (2009) Conference for Pastors in Geneva, Switzerland hosted by The World Alliance of Reformed Churches, focus on “The Legacy of John Calvin” (October 2008) Sabbatical: Lilly Endowment Grant for Clergy Renewal, focus on Reformed Theology and Heritage and Men’s Ministry; travel to Geneva, Switzerland and to Scotland. (Summer 2007) PEER Network conferences for Presbyterian endowed churches (2002, 2006) Conflict Management Training (1998 – 2000) Work Experience: Trinity Presbyterian Church, Atlanta, Senior Associate Pastor (March 2013 to Present) (2200 members) First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta, Associate Pastor for Administration/Executive Director (March 1998 to March 2013) (2600 members) First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta, Assistant to the Pastor (December 1996 to March 1998) (same duties as Executive Director above) First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta, Director of Christian Vocation (July 1994 to November 1996) (part time position) Attorney, Of Counsel, Wilson, Strickland and Benson, Atlanta, GA (April 1993 – November 1996) Attorney, Washington, D.C. with law firm of Pope, Ballard and Loos which through merger became Holland and Knight (1981-1984); Casson, Calligaro and Mutryn (1984 -1987) and then Calligaro and Mutryn (Partner) (1987-1991) (Primarily litigation practice) Service to Church and Denomination: 220th General Assembly, Commissioner (Pittsburgh, 2012) Presbytery of Greater Atlanta, Nominating Committee, Member (2008 to present) Presbytery of Greater Atlanta, Investigating Committee, Member (2011 to 2013) Presbyterian Homes of Georgia, Trustee (currently serving second three year term). Development Committee; Chair of Annual Auction Committee for 2011 and 2012 Samaritan Counseling Center of Atlanta, Ex Officio Board Member (2000 to 2013) Presbytery of Greater Atlanta. Wrote and performed short, two character, one act drama/comedy entitled, “Calvin: Then and Now” at several Presbytery fundraising gatherings. (Spring 2009) Presbytery of Greater Atlanta, Permanent Judicial Commission, Moderator (2002-2006) Presbytery of Greater Atlanta, Conflict Management Team, (1999-2003), Chair (2003) Elder, Vienna Presbyterian Church, Vienna, Virginia (1988-1991) Trustee, Georgetown Presbyterian Church, Washington, D.C. (1983-1985)